On March 26, the Arusha Initiative held its second virtual Town Hall. Participants discussed the importance of transparency and accountability within Africa’s human rights mechanisms and the processes through which members are elected to them.

RFK Human Rights is a founding member of the Initiative for the past year, which is advocating for a transparent, participatory, and merit-based process for nominating and selecting members of African human rights mechanisms. 

As part of its commitment to fostering dialogue and action, the Initiative hosts Quarterly Town Hall Meetings. These gatherings provide members and other rights holders with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the African human rights system and engage in collective efforts to protect and strengthen it.

The first-ever Town Hall hosted by the Arusha Initiative took place in October 2024, with the goal of raising awareness around the critical role played by rights mechanisms in the promotion of human rights in Africa. Over 90 participants joined the conversation, representing diverse voices from an array of African nations, and several other nations including the US, UK, France, Canada, and the Netherlands. The virtual event served as an important space for dialogue and insight, and reinforced partners’ commitment to a more just and equitable Africa.

The March 26 Town Hall looked back at the work of the initiative since its beginning, presented the goals of the initiative in the year ahead, and highlighted the Ugandan experience as a case study on the state of human rights throughout Africa. RFK Human Rights’ Senior Staff Attorney on Africa and co-chair of the Arusha Initiative Ikechukwu Uzoma provided an overview of the Initiative’s activities, and Dr. Zahara Nampewo, deputy dean and executive director of the Human Rights and Peace Center at Makerere University Law School, led the headline speech on attacks on civic space and political opposition in Uganda, titled Defending Democracy and Human Rights through Regional Mechanisms: The Uganda Experience.

The robust conversations and collaboration resulting from last week’s Town Hall further showcased the desire to continue the Arusha Initiative’s vital work on human rights mechanisms in Africa.

March 26 Virtual Town Hall

The purpose of last week’s Town Hall, as stated by Senior Staff Attorney Ikechukwu Uzoma, was to build community around the Arusha Initiative, a community of those who believe in human rights. As co-chair of the Initiative, Uzoma also looked back at the work of the Initiative since its inception in 2023, and shared updates and activities planned for the year ahead.

“Ultimately, we want to build the Africa we want and need through participation and transparency,” said Uzoma. 

Part of the Initiative’s work includes the tracking of vacancies in African human rights mechanisms, and sharing this information through social media and news outlets. According to Uzoma, this information was previously not shared by the African Union in the way civil society believed they ought to: a gap which the Initiative seeks to fill. As part of the introduction, Uzoma introduced the Arusha Initiative Volunteers Party—a platform that allows individuals to support the activities of the Initiative, especially with respect to producing outputs in all the African Union languages. 

Dr. Zahara Nampewo led the Town Hall discussion outlining how regional and sub-regional human rights mechanisms can be used to curb authoritarianism and abuse of power in Uganda.

“Uganda is an important case study, because of the hope that was provided by a new government promising human rights and protection,” said Dr. Nampewo. “Yet after 40 years, violence has become a tool of political control and a weapon against organized political dissent. Civil society organizations have come under attack, especially when attempting to hold the government to its human rights obligations. As a result, the judiciary is increasingly waning, and can no longer provide the hope that many victims of rights violations have held onto.”

Dr. Nampewo further described the Ugandan government’s refusal to engage constructively with those who attempt to broach the topic of democracy, including international partners. Drawing on her legal expertise, she presented the cross-section of opportunities available at the regional level to curb these challenges, highlighting the role of regional mechanisms in localizing international human rights norms and standards and reflecting the particular rights concerns of civil society in Uganda.

The Town Hall was attended by 117 participants from 23 African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. There are also participants from the United States and Europe.

The stated goal of the Arusha Initiative is enhanced efficiency of human rights mechanisms in Africa, through more transparent, participatory, and merit-based process for nomination and selection of members to the following mechanisms:

• African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
• African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR)
• African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)

In April 2023, a group of civil society organizations from Latin America and Africa met in Pretoria, South Africa, on the sidelines of the inter-mechanism dialogue between the ACHPR and the Inter-American Commission on Human and People’s Rights (IACHR). This event served as a peer exchange opportunity for both mechanisms to discuss challenges faced in their respective regions and how they were addressed.

One of the conclusions that emerged from this interaction was the importance of human rights mechanisms consisting of the most qualified individuals and the appropriate advancement of human rights.

“In Africa, there was no structured platform for engagement around the nomination and selection of leaders of human rights mechanisms,” said Uzoma. “This gave rise to the Arusha Initiative in October 2023. The objective was to learn from experience as African civil society organizations and critically examine what had not worked in the past and why.”

The initiative was announced in February 2024. Today, it has over 360 members and 40 organizations, including Defender Defenders, the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), the Center for Human Rights of Pretoria University, the Coalition for the African Court, the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, and the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU).

Looking Ahead

This year, the Arusha Initiative will engage with 15 openings at the African Commission and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the East African Court of Justice (EACJ). There will be at least three more quarterly town halls this year, as well as virtual training sessions, and in-person convenings. The Initiative will also hold exclusive trainings and career advancement support for its members.

The Arusha Initiative encourages interested individuals and organizations to sign up and stay tuned for future events. For more information on upcoming Town Halls and engagement opportunities, visit the Initiative’s page here. Those who are interested in volunteer opportunities can sign up here.

Follow the Arusha Initiative on LinkedIn and X.